Sunday, January 31, 2010

January 2010 Books and Movies

Sherlock Holmes

A little over CGI'd and definitely a Guy Ritchie film (slo mo a dead givaway) but all in all, a fun movie. Robert Downey Jr. was fantastic and it's nice to see him out of rehab. The story didn't follow any of those in the books, but they set it up for a sequel nicely, as expected. It really wasn't one I needed to see in the theatre but pretty good anyway.

Did the Earth Move?
Carmen Reid

Another Carmen Reid book. I have to say, I just hate the tag line her editor came up with for her: "A fabulous read. A sexy read. A Carmen Reid." It's so cheesy. Anyway, on to the actual book. It was pretty good actually. I liked the plot, specifically the way she turned things on their head with the main character being 10 years older than her love interest and the unplanned pregnancy storyline about her 20 year old son. I found I invested in the characters a lot more than her other books and was pleased with the pat outcome. A good beach read, light and fun.

Invictus

Unbelievable film! Nelson Mandela is such an inspiring person, so a movie about him, played by Morgan Freeman was just out of the park. I thought the accents were very believable, and although I don't care much for rugby, the story of South Africa winning the World Cup and uniting a country was riveting. I have no idea if this is what things were really like, but the cinematography was incredible and the depiction of the townships heart wrenching. A definite must see.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

A Wonderful Dinner

Last night, Pat, the chef extrodinaire and Em, his excellent sous-chef, created one of the most delicious meals I've ever eaten.

Appetizers were a vegi pate, duck confit and a tofu mousse on rice and wheat crackers followed by an incredible beet, ginger and garlic salad dressed in olive oil. The soup was creamed butternut squash and was a meal in itself! The main course was really interesting. Ricotta pie in a chicken crust, which was really interesting. He cut the chicken really thinly and put it in a little muffin tray to form the crust, then filled it with the ricotta mixture. They were served along side leeks spaghetti style and baked sweet potato rounds. The piece de resistance was dessert, of course! A trio of creme brulees, green tea, lavender and lemon pepper. The last was my favorite for sure.

We were stuffed and it was a lovely evening of great food and company!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

New Inspiration

I've been struggling lately with directions, paths to take and the road not followed. Today I went to a really amazing dance workshop (which was more physical theatre based than dance) taught by a woman who trained with Jacques LeCoq in the 60s. I've trained with a number of LeCoq students, but not someone who was at his Paris school when he was there full time. It was quite amazing. I haven't done any physical theatre work (besides the teaching I do) in some time, and it's been a really long time since I've gone down a corporeal expressive journey. It helped me remember what I love most about physical theatre, and that I do miss it. I didn't fully realise, until this evening, how doing that workshop put me in a better mood. The kicker is, I don't have time in my life for music and theatre and a full time job. So again, useful information, but what am I going to do with it? One lifetime just doesn't seem enough.

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Fiddler on the Roof

Great show! Harvey Firstein was absolutely fabulous. I wish I could have seen him as Edna in the original Broadway production of Hairspray. He didn't really sing so much as talk through his songs, but the effect was really awesome. Sitting up in the nosebleeds wasn't so fun, but the show has literally been sold out every night of its run, so we were lucky to get tickets. Great trio for the song Matchmaker, loved it!